Neurocysticercosis and HIV Infection

Abstract

Dear Editor, We thank Drs Joob and Wiwanitkit for their commentary on our paper 1. We agree with them-both neurocysticercosis (NCC) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are not uncommon in many tropical countries and co-infection has only been reported sporadically. For this very reason, we reviewed all published cases of NCC and HIV co-infection to determine whether we could clarify their relationship 2. The study from Tanzania 3 was included in our study, and it suggested that HIV and NCC were not associated, as the prevalence of NCC was similar among HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. The autopsy study from Brazil 4 was also cited in our paper 2 and, effectively, as stated by Joob & Wiwanitkit, the fact that HIV/AIDS was the main underlying cause of death when NCC was an associated cause is compelling and highlights the need to better understand the relationship between these two infections.